As companies continue to strive for efficiency, consistency and flexibility, computers and software executed on computers are increasingly relied upon to automate, semi-automate, enhance, quicken and make reliable and uniform business processes. This is true even in fields of professional service providers, such as financial auditors, and fields in which standardized procedures and documents govern acceptable and “best” practices. For instance, organizations, such as FASAB (Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board), FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board), AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants), IASB (International Accounting Standards Board), the SEC, and PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) promulgate rules and regulations, e.g., GAAS (generally accepted auditing standards), GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles), and IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), that govern the way companies are reviewed for integrity of financial accounting and operation. GAAS is principally comprised of ten auditing standards developed by AICPA that establish general standards (3) and standards related to field work (3) and reporting (4), including whether the report is in accordance with GAAP, and related interpretations.
In the field of auditing, although GAAP and GAAS provide guidelines by which auditors should conduct audits, there is a significant amount of discretion and judgment that must be exercised by the professional in order to determine the set of procedures required under the particular set of circumstances. This may also depend on the purpose and the intended audience to receive and interpret/rely on the report, and whether the entity being audited is public or non-public or governmental. Public or non-public, investors, banks, and other persons of interest rely on financial accounting information when determining whether to invest in a company, grant a loan to a company, merge with a company, etc. Standards are intended to promote best practices and uniformity, and therefore reliability, in the auditing process so that the resulting report may be viewed as unbiased, accurate and trustworthy.
Companies, such as Thomson Corporation, provide tools, resources and services to assist accountants and auditors. For instance, Thomson PPC's e-Practice Aids is a series of titles or guides that give guidance and provide materials and procedures consistent with standards. See e.g., PPG's Guide To Audit Of Nonpublic Companies, 25th Edition, January 2007. Auditors may rely on the guides or titles in conducting audits. Electronic tools, for instance Thomson's e-Tools, and electronic versions of guides, Thomson e-Practice Aids, help auditors take their tools and resources with them when conducting field work or may make them accessible from remote locations or at least electronically. Computers are also helpful in collecting client data and capturing assessment data. What is needed is an integrated system for planning and conducting audits, and for processing collected and risk related assessment data to determine and generate and present a suggested audit approach and set of procedures consistent with relevant standards and guides.